Back on July 21, 2014 Nevada Assemblyman Randy Kirner (R-26) ask for the drafting of a bill to create an interim task force to examine alternatives to the Nevada Public Employees Retirement System. (BDR 184) A more useless bit of legislation isn’t quite imaginable. Unless, of course, one has in mind the ultimate goal of changing the system from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan.
If this is the case, then it is right out of the ALEC playbook, which offers model legislation for this purpose. The corporate interest group also offers model legislation in case the state decides to retain its defined benefit plan. The defined contribution plan is a notion the Koch supported NPRI has been promoting since at least 2011. The ‘solution’ was proposed again in 2013 in NPRI’s handbook for legislators. (pdf) ALEC, the corporate bill mill, waded into these waters again in 2014 with its recommendations from the Public Pension Reform Working Group. (pdf) It might be of some interest to note that the private chair of the task force was held by Amanda Klump, of Altria Client Services, (that would be promoting the interests of the tobacco giant, which used to call itself Philip Morris.
A quick look at a 2014 publication of pertinent facts about state and municipal pension funds (pdf) and information on Nevada’s system from NASRA, should put one’s mind to rest, unless the unsettled portion is still churning through the misinformation and misleading conclusions drawn from publications of ALEC, the Altria Group, NPRI, and the Koch Brothers organizations.
One bill draft request, #185, from Assemblyman Kirner has made it to the light of day in the form of AB 3. Assemblyman Kirner’s effort would increase the size of the PERS Board to nine members, and three of whom would be individuals who: “have specified experience relating to the design or management of retirement plans; (2) are not employees of the State or its political subdivisions; (3) are not elected officers of the State or its political subdivisions; and (4) have never been active members of the System.” Thus, there would NOT be a member of the board who is an employee of the state of Nevada or one of its political subdivisions, is serving in a management position, has 10 years of service, is not an elected official, and is not an active member. In short – Assemblyman Kirner would remove the individual board member who has a direct interest in the positive outcomes of any policy decisions and replace the individual with three board members who are ‘technocrats,’ serving from the financial sector perspective. How convenient?
Assemblyman Kirner is evidently not pleased with a PERS board consisting of a former CFO of the City of Las Vegas, two members from the Police and Firefighters Retirement Fund Advisory Committee, a chief accountant with the department of Transportation, a former Clark County Budget Manager, a former Director of Payroll and Benefits from the Clark County School District, and a representative from SEIU. Perhaps there are too many members who might have questions about turning the defined benefits system into a defined contribution scheme?
Desert Beacon 